WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – North Carolina A&T's late-inning heroics continued Friday afternoon.
They used a ninth-inning RBI single from freshman Makayla Layton to score pinch runner Moriah Terry to give the Aggies a 1-0 win in nine innings over the Monmouth Hawks in the second game of a Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) softball doubleheader at MU Softball Park. In another one-run game, the Hawks won Game 1, 6-5.
The doubleheader split moved the Aggies to 10-25 overall and 4-7 in the CAA. The Hawks moved to 6-24 overall and 5-9 in conference play. The two teams will decide the series winner Saturday at 1 p.m.
A&T right-hander Joey Barkhimer (W, 3-6) had her best showing in the circle this season. She pitched valiantly over eight innings, striking out three, walking three, and giving up six hits while not surrendering a run. Barkhimer got the run-support she needed in the ninth inning as designated player Megan Ellis started the rally with a one-out single to right center.
The Aggies used Terry as a pinch runner for Ellis, but Monmouth recorded the second out of the inning when catcher Jocelyn Bennett flew out to right field. But Monmouth starter Kylie Gletow (L, 2-10) walked Aggies third baseman Dezianna Patmon on a 3-2 pitch to put Aggies at first and second, setting up Layton's big hit that scored Terry.
Barkhimer entered the ninth looking to complete the task. But Monmouth center fielder Mackenzie Bloss opened the frame with a double to left. Barkhimer then walked designated player Devin Coia on four pitches to put two on with no outs. The walk led the Aggies to make a pitching change as RHP Kayla Douglas (S, 2) entered the circle in a save attempt as she tried to preserve the narrow victory for A&T.
The first out of the inning came on a bunt sacrifice from shortstop Bri Lawson that moved Bloss and Coia into scoring position. Douglas recorded the second out of the inning by striking out Julia Thuer. Game 2 ended when Emily Churchill hit a pop fly into foul territory that Bennett snagged.
Monmouth nearly won the game in regulation as Lawson smacked a one-out single to center after Coia was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double.
Thuer followed with a single to right center, placing the walk-off run at third in Lawson. But Barkhimer got Churchill to swing and miss on an 0-2 pitch for out No. 2. The game went into extra innings when the Aggies forced Thuer out at second on a fielder's choice. Ellis had two hits in Game 2, and right fielder Latianna Langley went 2-for-3. Bloss went 2-for-4 for Monmouth.
The first game saw the Aggies almost rally from a four-run deficit. The Hawks took a 6-2 lead into the sixth inning. But the Aggies got a run back by manufacturing a run in the frame as Bennett hit a leadoff double into left center before being replaced on the base paths by Terry. Terry went to third on a fly out by Patmon before scoring on an RBI sac fly from Layton.
After A&T relief pitcher Amaya Kearse held the Hawks to only a single in the home sixth, the Aggies nearly stole the game in the seventh. Monmouth attempted to help as left fielder Sierra Baldwin reached on an error Lawson at shortstop. Hawks third baseman Riley Riendeau then committed an error that allowed Baldwin to reach third and Langley to go to second with no outs.
After the two miscues, Monmouth replaced starter Billie Kerwood (W, 2-10) with Kelly Toomey. Against Toomey, A&T second baseman Alyxx Estrada successfully laid down a sacrifice bunt along the first-base line that scored Baldwin and moved Langley to third with one out.
It became a one-run game, 6-5, when Toomey unleashed a wild pitch that scored Langley. Then, with the bases emptied, Patmon singled up the middle to put the tying run at first and the go-ahead run at the plate in Ellis, who was pinch-hitting for Kearse.
Kait Mulcahey (S, 1) entered the circle after the single and got Ellis to hit into a fielder's choice that forced out Ellis at second. The game ended when Ellis was forced out at second on Bennett groundball. Ellis (L, 4-2), the reigning CAA rookie of the week, pitched four innings and gave up nine hits and six runs.
Jai Deese went 2-for-4 with a run scored for the Aggies. Monmouth's Abby Warner had a 3-for-4 Game 1, with a run scored and an RBI.
